Era: Starting from divorce from female college student

Chapter 295: The terrifying peak match, the resurrection of MGM

San Francisco, in front of Wanjia Supermarket, Thursday night.

Monica Meyer came here again today with her husband Raven Albert to buy food for the weekend, because every Thursday, Wanjia Supermarket has member discounts.

And every Thursday, there are always a large number of goods in the expiring goods area.

All these expiring foods will appear together during this time period.

Many consumers will go to Wanjia Supermarket as soon as possible, and some crazy people will even queue up specifically to wait for such expiring food.

When Monica Meyer and her friends walked into Wanjia Supermarket, they saw the movie poster next to the door.

"Raven, is the movie 'Sadako' really that scary? The news said five people died of fright in New York today. I don't know if it's true or not."

After seeing the promotional poster for the movie "Sadako", Monica Meyer couldn't help but complain.

As a middle school teacher, Monica Meyer trusted the information in the newspaper, but the news that a movie could scare people to death made her very suspicious.

She is not an ordinary fool. She is a middle school teacher and has not yet been poisoned by happy education.

So she firmly believed that such news was just a publicity strategy of Universal Studios.

"You've been talking about this for the hundredth time. How about we go see this movie tomorrow night?"

Upon hearing this, Raven Albert said depressedly.

Then his wife immediately rolled her eyes at him and said, "No way, I will never go to see it. Didn't they say someone died? Aren't you afraid of death?"

He knew it was like this, "How about we go and see it during the day?"

Monica Meyer hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded and agreed.

She really didn't believe that the movie "Sadako" could scare people to death, but she herself was indeed quite scared. However, many people around her were talking about this movie, and almost everything she saw and heard was news related to "Sadako".

It had already aroused her strong curiosity.

After this matter was settled, Monica Meyer felt a lot more relaxed.

But after they had been shopping for a while and were walking out of the food area, when they passed the home appliance area, they found that there were a lot of people there.

"What's going on? There aren't usually so many people here. Is there an event going on?"

Not only Monica Meyer was curious, but Raven Albert was too.

They already have a TV at home, so of course they don’t need to buy another one, but if Wanjia Supermarket has a promotion, then they might as well take a look.

After all, Wanjia Supermarket is famous for its cheapness. Even though it has a luxury area with high-priced items such as truffles and matsutake mushrooms, such luxury areas are generally only found in big cities like New York.

The two walked into the home appliance area, but did not see any discounts or price reductions on the products, so they couldn't help but ask the staff out of curiosity.

"Yes, we haven't had any price reductions recently. They're all here to buy TVs. I'm not sure why."

Monica Meyer didn't learn the specific reason from the staff, but they soon found out.

Because most people come here to buy TVs because they have broken their TVs at home.

Some were smashed by themselves, some were smashed in their sleep, some were smashed by children, and some were even smashed by no one knew who smashed them.

Anyway, recently, Wanjia Supermarket has sold more than 60,000 televisions within a week of the release of "Sadako".

The increase is two hundred percent!

Television sets were clearly already in a weak position before, but no one expected that so many people would smash their TV sets because of the release of the movie "Sadako".

Raven Albert and his wife looked at each other in surprise. They had never expected this to be the reason. It was so magical.

It is magical, but what is happening now is really too weird.

So, do you still want to watch "Sadako"?

The two bought food and drove back home. Before they entered the house, they heard the crying of children. After entering the house, they found that their TV was smashed.

Several sharp objects, including fruit knives and kitchen knives, appeared inside the TV, and the entire TV was shattered into pieces.

hiss!
Monica Meyer and Raven Albert felt a blackout and almost fainted.

Fortunately, both of their children were unharmed.

But the TV suffered.

After some detailed questioning, we found out that their two children had secretly gone to the cinema to watch "Sadako". After returning home, they couldn't help themselves and smashed the TV.

After listening to the child's statement, Monica Meyer and her friend wanted to hit someone. At the same time, they were very angry and curious: Is "Sadako" really that scary?

Regardless of whether it is really that scary or not, the government has received a large number of complaints in recent times, demanding that movies be rated.

Or just cancel horror movies!

It’s just because "Sadako" is so horrible and terrifying that they can’t stand such torture.

Many people couldn't help but smash the TV after watching the movie.

There have been many calls for film ratings in newspapers, but the three giants, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, and Universal Pictures, have simply ignored them.

It’s not that they don’t support movie ratings, but they don’t want to be the first to take part in this matter.

Don’t giants like Warner Bros. like to take the lead? Let them take charge of this matter.

While the outside world was in an uproar, Monica Meyer and Raven Albert had already bought their tickets, checked in and entered the cinema, ready to watch the movie.

With excitement and nervousness, Monica Meyer and her partner were not afraid at first, especially since the plot seemed very ordinary, but until the music gradually became tense, they inexplicably began to get goose bumps.

As for movies, there will definitely be a gradual process.

The beginning attracts the audience's attention and makes them relax their vigilance. When the horror plot officially begins, they find that they have been immersed in it without realizing it.

This is a scene that was filmed in one room.

When "Sadako" climbed out of the dry well, the cinema was filled with shrill screams. Monica Meyer couldn't help but scream.

As a man, Raven Albert's face was as pale as paper, and he was obviously frightened.

The following plot is even more exciting, especially when Sadako crawled out from different places such as the TV. Raven Albert and Monica Meyer were so scared that they lost their voices, and some people next to them even peed their pants out of fright.

The air was filled with the smell of urine.

However, this seemed to add to the atmosphere of fear, making Raven and Albert feel more immersed in the situation.

With only half of the movie left, Monica Meyer couldn't hold on any longer and ran out alone.

When she ran to the dark corridor outside, she cried because the darkness made her even more scared and she always felt that Sadako might appear behind her.

"Monica!"

Raven Albert also came out, shouted, and was slapped by his wife.

It hurt a lot because Monica Meyer didn't hold back at all. When people are scared, they punch hard, which really catches people off guard.

The movie "Sadako" is very scary. Raven and Albert have already experienced it and don't want to experience it again.

However, there are still many people who continue to watch it, and there are even many fans of horror movies who watch it many times in a row.

Or maybe some psychopaths buy tickets to the cinema not to watch the movie, but to see the audience being scared to death by "Sadako".

In order to collect more movie-related news, some reporters also risked their lives to buy tickets to the cinema again and again to watch movies.

In this way, the box office of "Sadako" increased from only 120,000 US dollars per day at the beginning to one million per day. By the sixth day, the single-day box office directly broke the record of 10 million.

However, the production cost of "Sadako" was only 50,000 US dollars. The publicity investment increased a lot later, but it was still less than 5 million US dollars.

After breaking 10 million US dollars in a single day on the sixth day, the box office of "Sadako" has not dropped and has continued to rise.

And on the twelfth day after its release, the single-day box office exceeded 20 million US dollars.

After this data came out, the whole United States was shocked for a while. All Hollywood film companies were collectively shocked. Wall Street financial institutions and related media all reported the news.

Everyone is studying this movie. It is just a shoddy movie with a total investment of less than 50,000 US dollars, but its total box office is now about to exceed 100 million US dollars.

A horror movie with a box office of 100 million US dollars, who would dare to believe that this is a miracle created by Universal Pictures?

On the thirteenth and fourteenth days, as it was the weekend, "Sadako" continued to reap box office revenue, breaking 20 million US dollars per day for two consecutive days.

After three days of peak competition, the box office finally dropped to 15 million US dollars, but it did not continue to fall.

Warner Bros. and other studios couldn't understand why the single-day box office was still stuck at $12 million on its 26th day. On its thirteenth day, the film had already grossed over $100 million, and on its twentieth day, it had surpassed $200 million.

It's already the 26th day, and it's about to break 300 million US dollars. It's simply unbelievable.

Will the box office of the movie "Sadako" exceed 400 million US dollars?
The new year has just begun, and a horror movie can trigger a viewing frenzy and even break the box office record in film history. How is this possible?
The current top-grossing movie in film history is "Mission: Impossible", with a total box office of 257 million US dollars.

"Sadako", which has only been released for 26 days, has already grossed over 200 million US dollars, but its daily box office is still maintained at over 10 million US dollars, which is extremely strong.

In other words, if it continues to maintain this single-day box office performance, it will only take about six days to break the box office record of "Mission: Impossible" and take first place.

Warner Bros. Pictures, Jack's back teeth were all bitten off, why?
Today's three Hollywood giants, whether it is Paramount, 20th Century Fox, or Universal Pictures, all have their own unique advantages and each has been in the limelight for a period of time.

20th Century Fox first topped the list in film history with "The Sound of Music", and then it was followed by "The Way of the Dragon".

Even among other movies such as "Chinese Boxing Gym", "Southern Fist", and "Enter the Dragon", there are more than ten movies that have grossed over 100 million yuan, and they were completed in just three or four years. It's so terrifying.

Paramount was even stronger. "The Godfather" was the best in the world and pioneered the theme of "The Sopranos". Many film companies followed suit, and the box office also ranked first in film history, which was quite explosive.

Then there were movies with box office revenues of over 100 million yuan, such as "The Emperor of Chicago", "Monster", "Warrior", "The Laundering", and "The Jackal", and last year's No. 1 box office hit "Mission: Impossible" made Paramount a fortune.

Finally, Universal Pictures set a precedent with the movie "Spartacus", followed by "Home Alone" which broke through the Christmas and New Year period and told all its peers what movies should be released during the Christmas and New Year period.

"Home Alone" is a family-friendly movie that caused a movie-watching craze that year. Although it only briefly topped the box office that year, it was very close to the first place in film history and should not be underestimated.

It was followed by "The Runaways" and a large number of slasher films such as "The Wrong Man," as well as films such as "Home Alone 2" and "Christmas," whose box office performance was the most impressive among the three giants, because it was very average yet able to earn a huge box office.

In addition, there is another movie called "Jaws" which almost ranked first in film history, but unfortunately it encountered "Mission: Impossible" last year and missed this honor.

Nowadays, a horror film "Sadako" is about to break the record of the highest-grossing film in film history. In the eyes of insiders like Jack, Universal Pictures is more terrifying.

Universal Pictures is the equivalent of a hexagonal warrior, with almost no shortcomings, as it can handle many themes, and horror films are even more exciting.

The filming cost of "Sadako" was less than 50,000 US dollars, so cheap.

What about the box office results?
It’s about to break 257 million US dollars!

It's outrageous fucking open the door to outrageous, outrageous home.

Clint Richard and Rolf Curry were called into the office, and Jack gave them a long lecture before letting them leave.

No matter what, Warner Bros. must produce a movie with a box office of over 100 million, otherwise Hollywood will really become the world of the three giants including Paramount.

The eight former giants, Warner Bros., Disney, MGM, United Artists and Columbia, have been completely separated.

None of the five of them has a movie that has grossed over 100 million US dollars so far, but the three Paramount companies have more than ten movies each that have grossed over 100 million US dollars. This is a huge gap.

While Jack was trying every possible way to improve, MGM had already fallen into disrepair.

The shareholders behind MGM want to sell the company, but now they can't find a buyer.

Because the bosses behind Paramount and the other three companies were not willing to acquire MGM. Even if they wanted to acquire it, they would make many unequal demands, which made MGM shareholders so angry that they didn't want to sell it.

Just at this time, a financial company from Wall Street actually contacted MGM and wanted to acquire MGM.

This made the shareholders behind MGM very happy, but during the negotiations, the smiles on the faces of MGM shareholders froze because this Wall Street financial company actually offered a very cheap price.

It is even lower than the price offered by the three bosses of Paramount, the difference is that there are not so many requirements.

hiss!
To sell or not?
After much deliberation, MGM shareholders finally sold it because the current market situation of SAM Movies was incomprehensible.

You have to know that it was only less than three years since Zhao Mancang completed the acquisition of Paramount, 20th Century Fox and Universal Pictures in July 1964, and now it is January 1967, but the entire market has changed dramatically.

Before July 1965, the entire Sam's movie market was in a very depressed state. In the past four or five years, no movie had grossed over 50 million US dollars, let alone over 100 million US dollars.

But afterwards, the three Paramount studios released many movies with box office revenue exceeding 100 million US dollars in succession. Each studio had more than ten movies with box office revenue exceeding 100 million US dollars, which was extremely terrifying.

Incomprehensible.

However, MGM, Columbia, United Artists, Warner Bros. and Disney have not produced a single movie that has grossed over 100 million yuan in the past three years.

too weird.

The change of owner of MGM Studios did not attract much attention in Hollywood. Apart from the giant shareholders and management like Jack, no one else paid much attention.

However, on January 29, 1967, the day MGM was acquired, the head of MGM was replaced. The new head announced new personnel appointments and the film shooting plan for that year in front of reporters.

There was nothing noteworthy about the personnel appointments, but the film shooting plan surprised many people.

After the plans for the four films "Once Upon a Time in America", "Back to the Future", "Die Hard" and "Blade Runner" were announced, everyone was very surprised because each film required a large investment.

Does MGM still have money?

Is it clear that MGM has no money? Over the past few years, its financial resources have been nearly depleted, and now it still has the money to do this?
But soon everyone understood, because a new recruitment plan came out, and there was really money.

Since MGM is so rich, many people are of course willing to join this company.

The four scripts represented four different themes. After seeing them, other competitors such as Warner Bros. Pictures did not pay much attention to them.

MGM still wants to stand up?

Haha, impossible!

But in the blink of an eye, it was April and "Once Upon a Time in America" ​​was completed quickly after filming was finished, and it was released at the end of April.

On the first day of its release, Warner Bros. and other giants shut up because the box office on the first day exceeded 18 million US dollars.

Fuck, isn't this a box office result that will definitely make over 100 million?
The May period was traditionally the off-season for movies before July 1964, but now it has been monopolized by the Paramount Big Three.

It’s not that Warner Bros. doesn’t want to take on such a time slot, but that they simply can’t afford it.

Now MGM has also come in, and the key is that it has actually succeeded.

"Fuck, has the tide turned?" Jack's face was twisted with jealousy, and he really wanted to go to MGM to ask what was going on.

Jack has also seen the movie "Once Upon a Time in America". Although it is a fine movie, its box office is too exaggerated and it is very unreasonable.

As a result, it took Jack a week to realize that MGM was really going to rise.

Because in just one week, the box office of "Once Upon a Time in America" ​​has exceeded 100 million yuan. Such a terrifying growth rate is simply unbelievable.

"Is your luck about to run out? Paramount's new movie is coming out."

Jack was still gloating, but after Paramount's new movie was released, "Once Upon a Time in America" ​​still held up and the decline was not very severe. According to this trend, there is still a great possibility that the box office will exceed 200 million US dollars.

There are many giant cinemas in Sam's Club, which are controlled by different bosses. Because Sam's Club has anti-monopoly laws, it does not allow giants to both shoot and show movies. One-stop service is not allowed.

So when a movie is released in theaters, it all depends on the box office.

If the box office doesn't work, it will definitely be taken off the shelves, giving more screens to other movies that can make money.

However, the movie "Sadako" has been released for several months and is still being shown in many theaters across the United States. It now has box office revenue of around one million US dollars every day.

Now the box office of "Sadako" has already exceeded 400 million US dollars, but it is hard to say whether it can break 500 million US dollars.

After the end of May, June came in a blink of an eye. As the summer vacation was about to begin, Zhao Mancang came to Sam's Club for inspection again.

At this time, "Once Upon a Time in America" ​​was about to be withdrawn from theaters because the box office potential of this movie was almost exhausted, but its box office had already exceeded 200 million US dollars, ending perfectly!

Many movie giants, including Disney, are envious.

How is this possible?
But this is what has happened, and no one can help but believe it.

In the upcoming summer movie season, the competition will be even more intense, simply because this year is different from previous years. This year, four major film companies have set their sights on the summer season.

Not to mention the extremely strong movie "Sadako". Even in June, half a year after its release, its daily box office still remained at one million US dollars a day, which is simply terrifying.

I wonder who out there is who hasn't seen this movie?

The entire Sam has a population of only 200 million. Where do so many people come from?

In early June, 20th Century Fox was the first to release the popcorn movie "Fast and Furious", which had very exciting scenes and a huge investment.

The box office performance of this movie was also quite impressive. On the day of its release, the box office exceeded 20 million US dollars, which made many people exclaim that it was very exciting.

There have been movies with car chase scenes before, but no movie has been willing to invest as much money as "The Fast and the Furious".

More than ten Ferraris and other related sports cars were damaged, and these shots were edited into the movie.

It's normal for it to become so popular.

But it’s hard to say how much its box office will be in the end!
(End of this chapter)